Norman Pearlstine, the Time Inc. editor-in-chief, will not be stormin’ out of the Time & Life Building afterall.

The top editorial gun in the Time Warner empire has quietly inked a new contract – believed to be a three-year deal – to remain at the helm.

He oversees Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and dozens of other titles at the nation’s biggest magazine company.

The new deal should quell talk of a succession battle for at least several years.

A Time Inc. spokesman told The Post, “He has signed it. It is a multi-year deal.”

“I’m suprised,” chimed in one source. “I thought Pearlstine was going to go off to become Andy Grove’s Boswell and do other things.”

His reference was to the stir Pearlstine created in September when he revealed that he planned to work on several book projects next year for Warner Books – starting with a memoir of Intel Chairman Andy Grove. Pearlstine told The Post at the time that his contract, which expires Dec. 31, had yet to be renewed.

That got Time tongues wagging that Pearlstine was restless and looking for new challenges. But the Time Inc. spokesman insisted that Pearlstine’s renewing “was never in doubt.”

Handicappers predicted Pearlstine’s eventual successor will be either Fortune Managing Editor John Huey or Time Managing Editor Walter Isaacson. Signs over the last few months have pointed to Isaacson as the lead candidate to move up.

Huey sold his home in Atlanta in the last year, but he moved only a bit closer to the New York headquarters – an island off the South Carolina coast.

There is one other editorial job likely to be doled out early next year – Time Inc. editorial director, the No. 2 editing job, now held by Henry Muller.

Muller, who has been romantically linked to Teen People Editor Christina Ferrari, has said he plans to step down at yearend and become an editor-at-large for the company.

With Pearstine’s slot filled, speculation may soon be brewing that Isaacson and Huey are now candidates for the No. 2 slot.